Helping the non-line get online

by Kevin on January 16, 2009 · View Comments

If you are reading this the likelihood is that you’re fairly comfortable using technology to navigate your way around the web. Its estimated though that around 30% of the population don’t have the confidence or capability to take advantage of the benefits of belonging to the online community.

The Post Office have released a free Internet Buddy Guide which sets out ways in which the net-savvy can help the not-savvy develop the skills to make the most of the web. The guide is broken down into clear, straightforward exercises covering everything from how to use a mouse to avoiding viruses and online fraud. The excercises are split up into 30 minute chunks, so with just a few hours of support from you a friend or relative, with no previous experience could be sending emails, browsing the web or downloading files.

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Tagged as: Bristol, community, Connectivity, digital inclusion, Skills

  • Pete - point taken as regards variations; and GUIs are for wimps remember.

    More specifically, why is the Post Office producing a guide for new internet users? It obviously has money to burn on fripperies unconnected with its core business after its announcing of £200 mn. profits.

    Looking at the Post Office itself, when founded in the Victorian era, the fact the Post Office could deliver a letter posted one day to its destination on the next was regarded as some kind of miracle. The fact that it can still happen today is also regarded as a miracle... :-D
  • Stephen Hilton
    Come on guys, it's the Post Office - even the envelopes have Windows :-)
  • If I can play devil's advocate, for the Post Office to have produced a guide that covered all of the possible variations on a theme that linux has to offer (a command line solution? a gui solution? but then what variation? Gnome, KDE, openbox etc etc? Where do you draw the line?) would have been overkill, and frankly would have resulted in a far more confusing and unhelpful document for Joe Public. As such, I'd say that this is better than nothing, but still not a patch on the DCSF-funded 'MyGuide' of course. The Post Office gets some points for at least making the effort though...

    And, just for clarification, this is a personal view, not one endorsed by my employer in any way, shape or form... and I'm an Ubuntu 8.10/Windows 7 Beta dual-booter in my own time, and general linux advocate amongst my family and friends also ;)
  • At a quick glance it looks almost useful. While there's plenty of advice for Windows users and a nod in the direction of Macintosh, as usual there's no advice for Linux users. Is this because they think we're smart enough to work it out for ourselves? I think we should be told.
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